Yadav had announced the front last year only.

Lucknow: His hectic parleys with UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and those during his frequent visits to Delhi have led sources within the Samajwadi Party to the conclusion that veteran Shivpal Yadav is planning to float a new political outfit. According to a leading news portal, Shivpal, former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav’s uncle, is trying to reach an understanding with smaller political outfits, like the Mahan Dal, Apna Dal Krishna Patel faction and few others, and project another alternative, a ‘secular front’. Sources close to Shivpal also told the portal that the leader might go on a political tour of east UP by the end of September. (Also read: Would Like to Die Today to Get so Much Respect: Azam Khan)

Just past Sunday, Yadav was quoted as saying that he was yet to be assigned any responsibility in the SP. “For the past one-and-half years, I have been waiting, but so far the party has not assigned any responsibility to me,” he had told reporters. Now his attempt to float another front as an alternative to SP-BSP will only eat into the combine’s votes, and help the BJP. Sources said Shivpal’s move could be for either of the reasons: to pressure SP chief Akhilesh into accommodating him and his son within the party or to create a perception against the Samajwadi Party. A leader close to Yadav said, “We intend to provide a viable secular front against the BJP. If things work out, we look forward to an alliance with like-minded parties to stop the BJP in 2019.”

It was in May last year that Yadav had announced that the framework of the Samajwadi Secular Morcha was being worked out. “The SSM is a forum of different like-minded political parties. The idea of morcha was approved as there are many like-minded political parties which are ready to extend their support to us to fight the communal forces,” he had said, adding, “The morcha will also prove its political utility in amalgamation of smaller parties in the future, unlike political parties.”

Published Date: August 28, 2018 11:09 AM IST

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This could just be an arm-twisting tactic to get Akhilesh to accommodate him and his son.